As Andrei's survival briefing wound up, my attention wandered towards the solidly built dark haired man apparently pondering his own problems by the fire, Suren. Noticing my eyes and that the briefing was struggling, Suren stood and cut in to clarify the basics. We learned that the world we were now in acted on some strange principles that resembled a computer game. It was possible to die and rise from the dead. I immediately noted to myself that my God of Deception had told me the truth after all. To rise from the dead or, as it was called here, ''to resurrect'', was possible only in the special place where you had hidden your tombstone. This information was actually the answer to the question: ''Why do we need these stones tied to our backs?''

The main thing to keep in mind was that if the tombstone were destroyed, its owner's fate would be the final death. Andrei immediately calmed us down, saying that, when we got to the main camp, we'd be taken to the secret crypt of their squad, where we would then be able to hide our tombstones. On one hand, you'd want to carry such an important thing with you at all times; but on the other, if you died with your tombstone on you, it was likely to be destroyed as well. If that happened, there would be no way back. Judging by how casually the local old-timers were talking about death, this world had a lot of features, that's for sure. However, it seemed that they weren't in a hurry to teach us its secrets.

"Can I sum up the available information?" Having decided to check whether I understood everything correctly, I spoke up. I even raised my hand as if we were at school. My image of a diligent student would probably make everyone disregard me as a threat.

Andrei looked at me and nodded.

"To begin with, we know where the exit out of this place is, but it's not easy to get there," I said in a loud voice. ''Secondly, if we die, we'll be able to resurrect. Thirdly, if someone destroys your tombstone, all your previous efforts will be a waste of time! Did I get everything right?''

There was a gloomy silence, and I kind of regretted having said all of that. On the other hand, it couldn't hurt to clarify everything.

"That's right," Suren said with a smile. ''But you forgot the most important thing.''

I looked at him inquiringly. Fox and other newcomers followed my example. It even looked a little comical, despite the tragedy of this whole situation, since we were sitting with our mouths open, looking at our teachers.

"The most important thing is to survive," Suren grumbled and turned away.

"Oh, aren't we...?" Fox asked, looking confused.

''Hmph, no you're not,'' the old man answered with a grunt. ''The previous five died.''

''Valentin Petrovich!'' Andrei said angrily.

''Don't you think they have the right to know? What are you going to do about it?'' the old man asked, his face glum. I decided to call him Petrovich; a patronymic was a good nickname for this old man. ''Do you remember Olesya? Vitalik? Have you forgotten about them?''

''Stop!'' Andrei raised his voice. ''We aren't going to talk about this right now.''

Petrovich fell silent, as did the others. Andrei looked at everyone strangely, muttered something inaudible, and continued, ''We have to walk about six miles to reach the camp.'' Hearing this, one of the newcomers sighed heavily. ''It's tough, but you should know that it's the only way to get there.''

''Now it's my turn to give you some instructions," Suren said loudly. ''As Andrei has already mentioned, you'll need to hide your tombstones. Also, I want to point out that, if you want to, you can stay here on your own, and risk your life — you should understand that we don't force anyone.''

''What kind of danger lurks along the way?'' Olga asked calmly. There was no doubt that this woman had an iron grip on her emotions.

"Who knows," Suren said with a shrug. ''It could be wild animals, natural cataclysms, or even traps of unknown make.''

"I see," the businesswoman answered shortly.

''Those who put you through the test let you choose your main ability," Suren continued. ''Out here, you should count only on that. All of your other skills are barely useful, at best.''

''I got a knife fighting skill,'' the cop immediately answered.

"A disguise ability," Fox said, acting a little shy. It was definitely not a standard combat skill. As I thought, the girl wasn't that simple.

''Firearms.'' Olga managed to surprise everyone. Her tightly drawn blonde hair, black-rimmed glasses, and the strict business suit were utterly inconsistent with the image of someone shooting a firearm.

''I... I don't remember.'' Mikhail, the Major, looked confused. ''I hardly remember anything.''

Suren sighed and asked him to somehow look into his mind and then say what was written in the description of his ability. While my neighbor was wrinkling his forehead in concentration, our coach turned to me, waiting for me to reveal my specialization.

''War scythes,'' I lied, without even batting an eye. They were unlikely to succeed in finding something like this, which meant that no one would be able to disprove my story. And even if they did manage to find one — as a last resort, I could just say that the scythe wasn't a war one and that that's why the skills weren't working.

Suren exchanged a glance with Andrei, and they both sighed.

''Why is it so difficult with you…?'' our commander whispered in a faintly sarcastic tone.

''Well, listen up, guys, I'll help you get used to this new reality.'' Suren's unexpected, cheerful voice seemed to be utterly fake. ''It's kind of hard your first time, but then you'll start taking this for granted. You should relax your eyes and look inside yourself.''

Inside yourself. Easy for him to say! Looking at the other newcomers, I couldn't help but smile: Mikhail, Fox, the ex-cop, and Olga were making weird faces and involuntary helping themselves by using various gestures.

''I did it!'' Fox jumped joyfully. ''Wow, what's this?''

''That is the list of your stats,'' Suren replied. ''Strength, dexterity, endurance... If you're lucky, you won't die and will be able to increase them.''

I didn't know how, but after a while, I also managed to look inside my mind. It turned out to be quite easy, despite my fears. I was so surprised that I even took a step back. A translucent screen, similar to an image from a video projector or a hologram, it was hard to describe it, appeared in front of me.

Vasily Kotov

Level 1

Ability: magic

Available spells:

- Weakness

- Cure Light Wounds

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 15

Endurance: 10

Intelligence: 15

I was so confused that I almost asked a question about the intelligence stat. Fortunately, my natural prudence helped me out by ordering me to stay silent. Suren mentioned only three attributes, but for some reason, I had four of them. As Winnie the Pooh, the hero of my childhood stories, used to say, the ‘z-z-z' sound was a harbinger of trouble. That's why one had to be cautious. For a while, I was a little bit puzzled, but then it dawned on me that, most likely, my stats were invisible to everyone else. Everything was based, oddly enough, on blind trust. And that was a good sign.

After a couple of minutes, I'd already learned how to call up the screen and how to turn it off. Looking at the people around me, I could see their name and level, nothing more. This fact definitely had its own advantages and disadvantages. Geez! I was surprised when I saw that Suren had already reached level 10! The man was probably already a true hero of this mysterious world. Although, perhaps I was just jumping to conclusions — Andrei was level 12. Alexander, the guy who had helped me get up after the shadow world, was level 9. Valentin Petrovich was at 8, and the bald Igor, the one who had brought Fox back to reality, was, oddly enough, only level 5. I thought that he was as cool as Andrei and Suren.

''Well, let's try to get you armed!'' Andrei ordered. ''Look around, don't go far, and don't try to do anything stupid!''

I didn't like it when people said something like: ''Try not to do anything stupid.'' At least tell me what's stupid and what isn't. You learn to differentiate between the two only after you've already goofed.

By force of habit, I patted my pockets, and I touched something flat and solid under the cloth. I had completely forgotten about the stone and grass that I picked up in the shadow world.